Numerous orthopedic supports and braces have been devised to provide therapeutic support or immobilization of a limb or extremity of a patient. Such supports and braces range from simple elastic or softgood bandages and braces to complicated mechanical devices. Hand and wrist braces including means for supporting a thumb or other digit, for example, often comprise an elastic or softgood member that may wrapped about the patient's hand, wrist, or other digit. These braces may be supplemented for one or more particular therapeutic purposes by the addition of rigid or semi-rigid support members, stays, splints, or the like.
It is generally desired for an orthopedic brace to be applied to a limb or extremity in a particular position or orientation to achieve a good fit. For example, a wrist brace that includes a palmar stay intended to support the hand in a “cock-up” position, must be positioned so that the palmar stay is located along the palmar side of the wrist and hand, and so that a bend in the distal portion of the palmar stay is angled toward, rather than away from, the palm of the hand. Similarly, a wrist brace that includes dorsal supports must be worn such that the dorsal supports are located along the dorsal side of the wrist.
Even a brace that includes no support members, such as the aforementioned palmar and dorsal stays, may be shaped according to particular features of a limb. For example, a wrist brace often extends well onto the hand, and may have a distal portion that is contoured or configured to be wrapped about the hand between the thumb and forefinger.
Given the need to apply an orthopedic brace in a particular position or orientation relative to a part of a limb, known orthopedic braces are typically configured for only left or right sided use. Unfortunately, may known left and right sided braces are not interchangeable; that is, a left handed wrist brace cannot be used on a right wrist.
This can be more fully appreciated by recalling the example previously described wherein a wrist brace includes a palmar stay intended to support the hand in a “cock-up” position. In this example, to simply apply a left handed brace to the right wrist “backwards,” by turning the left handed brace “inside out,” for example, does not reverse the palmar stay and would be ineffective because the palmar stay is not reoriented into the correct position for the right hand.
Further, and more generally, straps or fasteners that are located on the outside of a left handed brace, when applied to the left hand, would be located on the inside of the left handed brace when “turned inside out” for right handed use, therefore becoming useless or causing discomfort for a wearer of the brace. Thus, it is necessary for physicians, physical therapists, medical suppliers, and the like, to maintain a supply of both left and right handed braces.
Many known braces restrict the locations at which straps are secured to a main body softgood pad. These braces generally employ patches of corresponding hook and loop material on the straps and the main body, respectively. By restricting the locations of hook and loop material, a wearer is limited at where the strap will secure on the main body. Moreover, the general brace also lacks the flexibility to accommodate different straps and extensions from the main body that allow for securing a variety of different appendages.
In addition to the drawback of known braces typically being restricted for either left or right handed use, many known braces are limited as to their ability to accommodate certain sizes of appendages. As is well understood, injured wrists, hands or digits (i.e., thumb and fingers), often swell as they heal. It follows that a brace used to support these appendages must be adaptable to various sizes of injured wrists, hands or digits as they undergo healing. Moreover, dressings in addition to the brace and proximate to the skin of the wearer may be used in combination with the brace, wherein the brace extends over such dressings. In view of these size variations of either the wrists, hands or digits, and the possibility of dressings being used in combination with the brace, it is desirable to provide a brace that enables a wide range of size adjustability.